Learn To Love Again
by VintageChanelBaby
Summary: After the loss of both Killian and Robin, Emma and Regina seek comfort in one another. Is it just comfort that they're seeking or is it something more?
1. Chapter 1

It had been two months since the events of the Underworld. Two long, whole months since her entire world had changed. Some days it had felt like it was an eternity ago since she had seen his face but other days it felt like it had happened just yesterday. Her pain felt just as raw today as it had done back then on that day; that day when she had to say goodbye to him for the very last time.

She knew that today was going to be one of the hardest days; it was his birthday after all. She hauled herself up from the couch and slowly paced over to the liquor cabinet pulling out one of the birthday presents which she had gotten for him. She took a glass out and opened the bottle of rum; the smell of the liquid instantly reminding her of him. A tear crept from her eye as she slowly poured herself a glass of his favourite drink. Leaving the bottle open she sluggishly made her way back to the couch allowing for the bitter smell of rum to envelope the room. She sat watching the fire in silence for a few minutes, the flames dancing around in front of her providing her with welcoming warmth. She held the glass up in front of her, her eyes not leaving the flames. "Cheers, Captain." She whispered, the wobble in her voice evident. She took a gulp of the liquid and allowed for the tears in her eyes to fall, the memories of her last moment with him playing over and over again in her head just as visibly as it had done the first time.

The empty glass slipped through her trembling fingers and landed on the carpet with a gentle thud. She had been strong all day, too strong. Now she was alone and she could finally release her sadness, her grief.

Fifteen minutes had passed and now she just felt numb. She knew that some days were going to be tougher than others but she wasn't expecting them to be this tough. She wiped her eyes harshly with the back of her hand, annoyed at herself for once again breaking down on her own which was when, according to Dr. Hopper, she was at her most vulnerable. She sighed. She knew what she had to do. She pulled her phone out of the pocket at the back of her jeans and texted the one person who she could rely on the most; the person who knew exactly what she was going through. 

' _Are you busy?'_

She asked ominously, not wanting to intrude on whatever it was that the other woman had planned for the evening. She hated feeling like a burden and she hated for the brunette to see her this way but she couldn't be alone tonight.

In less than a minute after sending the text her phone buzzed loudly and her name flashed up on the screen along with the accompanying message: 

' _I'm coming over.'_

* * *

"Who's that?" The red head questioned as she leaned over her sister's shoulder in hope of seeing who it was that she was texting.

"That is _none_ of your business." Regina responded and stood up almost immediately after she had replied to the text. "I have an errand to run; can I trust you to make sure that Henry's light is out by no later than ten?"

Zelena stood and followed her sister into the hallway determined to get more information out of her. "It's a man isn't it?" She teased with a smirk on her face.

Regina stopped abruptly and placed her hands on her hips. "I told you I am not discussing this with you."

"See, it is a guy. That's why you're being so secretive. Ohhhhh. Is it a married man?" Zelena laughed and waggled her eyebrows; since she and Regina had embraced their new found sisterhood she loved nothing more than to tease her younger sibling. "I've got it! It's Prince Charming, isn't it? Ha, the scandal! Whatever would Princess Snow say? "She gasped dramatically and jokingly slapped the brunettes arm.

"Zelena. You're being ridiculous." Regina rolled her eyes but couldn't manage to hide the smile that had appeared on her face. Since she and Zelena had worked out their differences and Zelena and baby Robin had moved in, they had become a lot closer although they still had a tendency to squabble over stupid things. "Lights out at ten, remember?" Regina spoke with finality in her voice before turning and leaving.

"Have fun. Don't do anything that I wouldn't." Zelena called after her sister and watched as she drove off to whichever mysterious place it was that she was going to. She had half a mind to follow her but she wouldn't dare leave Robin and Henry alone. "Hm. I'll find out what it is that you're up to, sis. You just wait." She whispered to herself and shut the door behind her.

Regina checked her phone while she was waiting at a red light. Emma's name flashed up once again. 

' _Thanks.'_

She smiled at the text before putting her phone back in her blazer pocket and carrying on with the short journey to Emma's house. Since the deaths of Robin and Hook, she and Emma had formed a strong bond. They seemed to understand each other in a way that nobody else could. Regina couldn't figure out if they had always had that _something_ between them or whether it was something that came about after the tragedy. One thing that she did know was that she wouldn't have been able to get through these last two months without Emma Swan. The two of them had been each other's rocks throughout the ordeal and that was exactly why she was driving to her former enemy's house in the middle of the night instead of being at home with a glass of wine and a good book.

Regina pulled up and parked her car just behind that yellow monstrosity which Emma called a car. She shook her head as she looked at it, it could really do with a new paint job amongst many other things. She walked up the path to Emma's house which was unusually dark, the only sign of light being from the small glow coming from the fireplace in the front room. Regina frowned, Emma's house was usually lighting up the entire street, like Henry, Emma had the annoying habit of leaving every light on the house switched on even when no one was there. She rang the doorbell and again was surprised. This time at how quiet it was usually she would've been hearing music or voices from one of those trashy reality television shows that Emma was strangely addicted to. Regina tapped her foot impatiently, every second she spent waiting was causing her more reason to worry.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hi guys, thank you so much for the follows/favorites and reviews so far. I promise I will do my best to update as frequently as possible! Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoy this chapter :)_

* * *

Emma's head rose at the sound of the doorbell and she let out a deep breath that she didn't know that she was holding. She stood up hastily, relieved that Regina had gotten there so quickly. She turned the light on for the first time that night and panicked as she saw the pure state of her living room. She shrugged dully to herself as she walked towards the door; the appearance of her house was the least of her problems.

Regina couldn't help but be taken back as soon as the door was opened. Emma stood in front of her, her usual shining emerald eyes painted with a painful red tinge and her pink lips were dried and chapped. Her blonde hair was tangled and teased and her usual upbeat personality had been completely disintegrated. She hadn't seen Emma in this way since just after the funeral. "Emma." She said softly and rested a comforting hand on the blondes arm. Her eyes met with Emma's tear filled ones. "What's happened?"

"Nothing. I just… I'm just being dumb." Emma bowed her head and pulled away from Regina's touch, walking back inside with Regina following her closely behind. She suddenly felt extremely stupid for calling the other woman over, especially now, when she had thought that she was finally moving on.

"Emma." Regina said her name more firmly this time.

Emma flopped down on the couch and released a heavy sigh. She knew how persistent Regina could be and keeping anything from Regina was near enough impossible for her to do. "It's Killian's birthday today. Or… It was Killian's birthday." She looked down into her lap knowing that tears were beckoning to fall if she looked up at the brunette.

Regina sat down beside Emma and rested her hand on top of hers. "How did I not know this?" She berated herself inwardly before turning her attention back to the fragile blonde beside her. "I'm so sorry, dear. You shouldn't have had to go through today on your own."

"It's okay. I was at my parents' house earlier but I wasn't really in the mood for socializing." She squeezed Regina's hand, appreciating the support from her friend. "You weren't to know. I mean, you and Killian were hardly best friends were you?"

Regina let out a dry chuckle. "That's an understatement."

Emma smiled. The first genuine smile she had given all day. "Yeah. You know, you two weren't so different."

"So insulting." Regina frowned and rolled her eyes which resulted in light laughter from Emma. "Okay, Miss Swan." Regina switched to a more serious tone of voice before standing up and pulling Emma up with her. "Here's what's going to happen now. You are going to take a nice long shower and I am going to salvage this so called living room of yours."

"You don't have to, Regina. I can sort all this out tomorrow."

"Shower. That's an order." Regina pointed to the stairs and gave Emma a small nudge into the direction of them. Emma obliged and headed upstairs leaving Regina to survey just how much damage had been done to the once pristine room.

Before Emma had even made it to the top of the stairs Regina had placed the lid back on the bottle of rum hoping that the smell would waft away before it made her gag. She opened the curtains and a window to let some air into the room and then began to pick up miscellaneous items which were strewn across the floor. She hesitated as she picked up the red leather jacket which had somehow found itself under the couch. Holding it up, she couldn't help but smile as Emma's familiar scent of vanilla and something else which she could never quite decipher drifted over her. She shook the jacket a couple of times to get out the creases and then hung it on the empty coat stand by the door, an apparatus which apparently was just for decoration in Emma's house.

Emma returned from the bathroom, her wet hair scraped back into a high pony tail and her eyes significantly less puffy than they had previously been. She had changed into a loose gray t-shirt and some sweatpants which were a great deal more comfortable than the jeans she had previously been wearing. "Wow, Gina. You must have used some powerful magic to get this place looking so good." Emma scanned the room, clearly impressed with what she was seeing.

"Please, my magic may be good but fifteen years of tidying up after Henry has made me a professional of cleaning up messes without the use of my magic."

"Well, whatever. You did a great job."

Regina smiled proudly and handed Emma a glass of wine which she had just finished pouring.

"I have wine?" Emma raised an eyebrow; she didn't remember _ever_ buying a bottle of wine. Her alcohol collection consisted mainly of beer and the occasional spirit.

Regina rolled her eyes while she poured herself a glass. "It's Domaine de la Pousse d'or. It's a very fine wine. If you recall I bought it for you last Christmas."

"Domaine de la what?" Emma smelled the yellowish liquid and took a cautious sip. "Hm, not bad."

"It's French, dear. And it's an extremely superior wine." Regina chuckled at Emma's ignorance and headed back over to the couch motioning for Emma to follow.

"Perfect for a Queen then, huh?" Emma smirked and took another sip as she followed closely behind Regina. "Well, in that case then it's _tres magnifique_." She emphasized using her best French accent.

Regina laughed. "You're an idiot." She elbowed Emma in jest who then laughed along with the brunette.

There was a comfortable silence between the pair as each of them took small mouthfuls of wine and Emma fidgeted on the couch trying to find the most comfortable spot. Regina watched in amusement and held off from speaking until she was positive that Emma was sitting still. When she was sure she placed her wine glass on the table in front of them and turned so that she was facing Emma. "We should really talk about earlier."

Emma subconsciously copied Regina's actions, placing her own glass down beside the other one. "Do we have to?" She asked, slightly disgruntled by the suggestion. She hated talking about her feelings besides that was what she went to Dr. Hopper for, wasn't it?

"Yes, Emma. I'm worried about you."

"It was just a setback, that's all. I was overreacting. I shouldn't have text you. I'm okay. I promise."

Regina furrowed her brow, not entirely believing what Emma was telling her. "You weren't overreacting. You lost somebody who you were very close to. It's going to be hard but you can't keep everything to yourself. You have to let other people help you."

"Like you do, you mean?" Emma responded defensively, a bitter sarcasm lacing her words. "Actually Regina, I'm pretty sure you've been doing just that, haven't you? I wasn't the only person who lost somebody." Emma spat, her anger entirely getting the better of her.

"Emma, please. I don't want to start an argument with you." Regina softened her voice; she really hadn't intended to offend Emma in any way.

"Why not? Scared you might learn some home truths?" Emma shifted on the couch creating a distance between her and the other woman. "Because you know what Regina, I know you're seeing Dr. Hopper and I know that you're still hurting over Robin so don't you dare come in here and tell me how I should or shouldn't be acting, okay?" Emma stood up angrily, tears of frustration filling her eyes. She turned around to face Regina expecting the brunette to be just as angry as she was but instead she saw something else in her brown eyes. She saw a comfort, an understanding. "I just.. ." She paused to collect her breath before finishing her sentence. "I miss him every day." Her voice broke and she allowed the tears to fall freely down her face.

Regina rushed over to Emma and wrapped her arms around her. "I know you do. I know." She soothed, rubbing her back gently. "And that's good. I'd be more worried if you didn't miss him. It'll get easier for you, I promise."

Emma held onto Regina tightly, making the most of the comfort that she had so badly needed. They stayed that way for a few minutes before Emma slowly and somewhat reluctantly pulled away. "I'm sorry for yelling at you."

"Don't worry about it, Emma. You were right." Regina wiped away the remaining tears from Emma's cheek with her thumb. "I am visiting Dr. Hopper, he's helping me come to terms with Robin's death and yes, I am very much still hurting over it."

"You know I'm here for you too, Regina." Emma placed her hand on Regina's forearm and squeezed it tenderly. She felt incredibly guilty about how she had just handled things, Regina had been the best friend to her over the past few months, the last thing that she deserved was to be yelled at.

"You have been here for me. All those nights we spent together talking, the lunches we shared at Granny's, the days we spent sorting through Robin and Hook's belongings. All of that was helping me too."

Emma smiled at Regina's confession; it made her feel a whole lot better knowing that she was helping Regina out. "Thank you for everything. "

"You're welcome." Regina returned Emma's smile. "Now, I'm exhausted and you must be too. I should be getting back."

"No." Emma pouted which caused Regina to smirk almost immediately after the action. "I mean, you should stay. You've been drinking and I would really actually like it if you stayed."

Regina thought the suggestion over in her head for a couple of seconds before giving into the blonde. "I suppose that would make sense. I wouldn't want the Sheriff to arrest me for driving under the influence now, would I? And, well my magic does get a little unpredictable after a glass of wine."

Emma nodded, agreeing completely with Regina's reasoning. It also reminded her how she hadn't made an arrest in quite some time. "Exactly, it makes perfect sense. You can stay in Henry's room, he said that the bed in there is almost as comfy as the one he has at your place."

"Looks like I'm going to have to try it out then. I best let Zelena know not to expect me back." Regina excused herself and went into the hallway to call her sister.

Emma smiled triumphantly and carried the now empty wine glasses through to the kitchen leaving them on the side; she would clean them tomorrow, probably. Once again Regina had cheered her up when she thought that nobody could, she smiled and made a mental note that she would be the one to pay for lunch tomorrow. She looked over her shoulder when she heard the sound of footsteps making their way towards her. "Everything sorted?"

"Yes although I might have a tough time convincing my sister that I am not romancing your father."

"What?" Emma's eyes widened at what Regina had just said.

"I'll fill you in on that ridiculous theory later. Sometimes I think it was easier when Zelena and I were trying to kill each other." Regina chuckled and shook her head at the memory of her and her sisters past antics. "Now let me try out that bed of Henry's."

"Okay, I don't really know if I want to hear about this theory." Emma laughed, completely confused with what Regina was going on about. "Right this way, Your Majesty. Your bed awaits for you." Emma jested and hopped up the stairs two at a time.

Regina rolled her eyes once again at Emma but followed after her nonetheless albeit a little slower. "Such an idiot." She whispered under her breath but couldn't hide the huge smile from appearing on her face.


	3. Chapter 3

Emma groaned as she was rudely awakened by the shrill ringing of her alarm clock. She clicked the alarm off straight away and welcomed the peaceful silence of the morning. With another groan she contemplated turning over and going back to sleep before she realised that she wasn't the only one who was in the house this morning. "Shit, Regina." She gasped and leapt out of bed with an energy that she had no idea that she possessed at that time in the morning and rushed over to the bedroom that Regina had spent the night in. She stopped as she saw that the door was open and peered into the bedroom. "Regina?" She called with a confused intonation in her voice. The double bed in front of her was made up flawlessly and it looked as if it had never even been slept in. On top of the covers was a small piece of paper and the perfectly folded oversized Knicks t-shirt that Regina had borrowed from Emma to sleep in for the night. Emma picked up the note from the bed and read the regally looped handwriting:

' _Didn't want to wake you, hope you slept well. See you at Granny's for lunch._

 _R. '_

Emma sighed, unable to hide the disappointment of Regina's premature departure. She placed the note back down exactly where Regina has left it and went to take a shower. Lunchtime could not come quick enough.

* * *

"Well?" The red head questioned the boy, watching with anticipation at every bite that he took of his freshly baked pancake.

"They're good. Thanks, Aunt Z." Henry nodded approvingly and dug his fork into another pancake.

"As good as your mom's?"

Henry swallowed and looked at his aunt with a serious expression. "Nobody's pancakes are as good as moms are, not even Granny's but you made a decent attempt."

Zelena huffed and took a bite of her own pancake which she thought tasted far better than her sisters. Just as she was about to question Henry some more about what made Regina's pancakes so superior to her own they were interrupted by the opening of the front door. Henry looked up from his plate curiously "Mom?" He called and grinned as Regina came into view.

"Morning, Henry." She smiled and walked over to him resting her hand on his shoulder for a moment before walking over to the coffee machine to make herself a cup.

"Where have you been?" He asked as he took a gulp of his orange juice.

"Hmm, I bet I know where she's been." Zelena teased.

Regina poured herself a large mug of coffee before turning to her son, completely ignoring her sister's remarks. "I stayed at Emma's last night." She answered honestly; she had nothing to hide after all.

"Why? What's happened? Is she okay?" Henry panicked, each question leaving his mouth a little quicker than the previous.

"Yes. There's nothing to worry about, Henry. Everything's fine, she was just a little lonely." Regina paused; hoping lonely was the correct word to use. Worrying Henry was the last thing she wanted to do and she knew that Emma felt the same about that.

"Oh. She should come and stay with us for a few days." Henry grinned with anticipation; living with both of his moms would definitely be the best thing ever.

"Don't you think we're already a little crowded? Another person might unsettle Robin." Zelena piped up, she had never been the biggest fan of Emma Swan.

"No! I can transform my game room into a bedroom for her." Henry glared at Zelena, she wasn't about to ruin this for him.

"That's enough you two. I think Emma is just fine where she is, Henry. It was a nice gesture though." Regina reasoned with a disappointed Henry.

"Okay." Henry sighed before finishing the last of his juice. "Anyway I've gotta go. I was meant to meet Violet five minutes ago. Bye Mom, love you. Bye Aunt Z." Henry stood up and gave his mom a kiss on the cheek before grabbing his book bag and jogging out of the door.

"So where were you really last night?" Zelena smirked at her sister, still one hundred percent sure that she had spent the night with David.

Regina sighed, a little frustrated that she had explained herself once already yet her sister didn't believe her. "I told you. I was at Emma's; she was having a rough night."

"Yeah, right" Zelena scoffed. "As if I believe you were having a girly sleepover with Swan. You were obviously busy getting it on with that charming father of hers."

"There is absolutely nothing going on between myself and David Nolan. I've had just about enough of this Zelena. I'm going to get ready for work before you make me use my magic on you." Regina slammed her now empty coffee cup on the table and walked upstairs.

Within mere minutes Regina had returned wearing a perfectly steamed pant suit, her hair tailored in its usual immaculate style. She glanced over to her sister who was still sitting in the exact same position that she had previously been sitting in except this time she was glancing over this morning's newspaper. "Don't forget that Snow's coming over with Neal later."

Zelena looked up at the mention of the other woman's name and groaned inwardly, how could she possibly forget? She had been dreading it ever since Regina had arranged it but Storybrooke was hardly full of babies and it really was about time that Robin made a baby friend. "Yes, I'll be sure to bond with the babies why you talk about boring nonsense with Snow White."

"I actually have plans for lunch so it will just be the four of you."

"You have got to be joking. What are we supposed to talk about, the seven dwarves?" Zelena huffed. "What plans could possibly be more important than saving your sister from an hour of awkward small talk?"

Regina raised an eyebrow at her sister's dramatics. "Snow isn't _that_ bad besides you're both mothers to infants which will give you a lot to talk about. And I'll be at Granny's, I promised her I'll try out her new apple pie recipe. She needs the Mayor's stamp of approval." Regina lied coolly knowing that if she told her sister that she was spending time with Emma she'd again be bombarded by ridiculous David Nolan theories.

Zelena frowned, since when had Granny needed anyone's approval? Something wasn't quite adding up with what Regina was saying and she was going to get to the bottom of this. "Fine, enjoy your pie." Zelena replied with a bitter edge to her voice, she needed to make sure that Regina wasn't going to suspect her of anything. Regina gave her an eye roll in return and headed out of the door.

Zelena of course had no intentions whatsoever to sit around and discuss diapers with the towns' goody two shoes. She was however going to make the most of a free babysitter and a chance to see what her sister was really up to.

* * *

With Snow taking care of Robin and Regina not expecting a thing Zelena couldn't help but feel a little smug, this was set to be yet another brilliant plan of hers. She flipped her newly brunette hair over her right shoulder and smiled at just how perfect her disguise was. Staring into the mirror she admired her new self for a minute familiarising herself with her new temporary look. "Perfect" she whispered in an accent which definitely was not her own. She looked down at her watch, exactly 1PM. That means that Regina should be out there, already seated and waiting for the mysterious lover who she was planning to meet. Zelena felt a small pang of guilt in her chest, spying on her sister wasn't something she felt great about doing but it was necessary. If Regina was dating someone new then she needed to know about it. Zelena took another look in the mirror at her new reflection before flashing a confident grin and walking out of the bathroom and into Granny's diner. She spotted Regina right away, sitting with her usual pristine posture in the middle booth of the diner. She was alone… For now. Zelena walked over as casually as she could and occupied the booth just behind Regina, despite her disguise she still planned on going as unnoticed as she possibly could, Regina was no fool after all.

"What can I get you, Regina?" Ruby asked with a smile, her pen poised at her notepad waiting for her orders.

"I think I'll take the Caesar salad today with a mineral water and Emma I assume, will have her usual. Thank you, Miss Lucas." Regina returned the smile and handed the menu over to Ruby.

Just as Ruby had left the table Emma came bustling through the door, her cheeks flustered pink from her run to the diner. "Sorry I'm late." She gasped and slid into the seat opposite Regina. "I was playing paper basketball with David and completely lost track of time." She ran her hand briefly through her windswept hair and slowly began to catch her breath.

Regina tutted, typical Emma. "Don't you have more important things to do than play with a paper ball?"

"Hey, it was an important game. Loser gets trash duty for the rest of the week."

"I assume you were victorious."

"Of course" Emma stated matter of factly. "Have you seen my aim? He had no chance."

Regina smiled shaking her head in amusement, Emma was lucky that Storybrooke's crime rates were so low. "I ordered your usual."

"Thanks, I'll let you share my cheese fries."

Regina grimaced at the thought of the greasy food and politely declined the offer. "How are you doing today? I'm sorry I left so hastily this morning, I figured that you'd need as much sleep as possible after last night."

Emma laughed at Regina's choice of words. "You know you should probably keep your voice down, people could get the wrong idea." She joked before she noticed the disapproving look on Regina's face. "I'm feeling much better today." She answered more seriously. "Thanks again for coming over last night, you really helped."

Regina nodded her head slowly, a small smile appearing on her face. "I'm glad to hear it." Regina found Emma's hand with her own and laced their fingers together, meeting her eyes as she spoke. "Things will get easier. You're always going to miss him but the pain will soften, trust me on that." Regina delivered a sad, knowing smile as she remembered all the people that she had loved and lost in her life before clearing her throat and returning her full attention back on to the blonde sitting across from her.

Emma stroked her thumb over the back of Regina's hand noticing, if only for a split second, the hurt in the brunette's eyes. "Yours will too, Gina." Emma bit her bottom lip wishing she had some more helpful advice to offer but her mind coming up blank under the intense gaze of the other woman.

The two of them stayed that way for a few seconds before Ruby came over balancing two plates of food on one arm and two drinks in another. She arched an eyebrow as she saw the closeness between the two former enemies and waited until they had unlinked their hands before placing their orders on the table. "Enjoy ladies." She smirked with a glint in her eye and walked away with a knowing smile.

Emma and Regina spent the rest of their lunch date with more light hearted chats mainly focusing on Henry and his blossoming romance with Violet amongst other things like work and family. It wasn't long before Regina groaned seeing that her lunch hour was almost up already and she was going to have to return to the endless pile of paperwork that she had to get through by the end of the week. Emma was the first to stand and place a handful of bills on the table for Ruby to collect insisting that lunch was on her despite Regina's attempts to split the bill. Regina reluctantly accepted and thanked the blonde before the two of them walked out of the diner calling their goodbyes to the waitress as they left.

* * *

Zelena had sat in silence listening intently to the conversation between her sister and Emma Swan until the very last goodbye. After they had both parted ways she looked down at her cold cup of coffee and a wave of realisation swept over her. Regna really _had_ been spending all of that time with Emma; it seemed that Emma was her Charming and not David as she had first suspected. Zelena thought back to the encounters she had seen between the two women, she had never really thought about it before but maybe they had always been in love and they were just too blind, stubborn or oblivious to see it. With a mischievous grin Zelena vowed to herself that she was going to help Regina get her happy ending even if it was going to be with Emma Swan.


	4. Chapter 4

Zelena watched the clock as patiently as she could; her mind had been spinning into overdrive ever since lunchtime and she urgently needed answers. She had thought about confronting Regina about it but she didn't want to risk angering her, she had then thought about talking to Emma but she had barely spoken more than two words to the other woman since she got here. In the end she had decided that her best bet was to talk to Henry, he was after all the person who started the connection between Emma and Regina. After what seemed like an eternity the door opened and she heard Henry walk through the door. "Henry, I need to talk to you." She called out to him as soon as she heard the door slam behind him.

"It wasn't me who spilled ketchup on Robin's new sweater."

"You what?! Ugh never mind, no it's not about that it's about your mom, well moms."

Henry's interest peaked after he heard what it was that Zelena wanted to discuss. "What about them?" He asked as he hung his coat up and made his way into the dining room.

Zelena rocked Robin on her hip gently as she thought of how best to approach Henry with the subject. "Have you noticed them acting differently with each other?"

"Not really, why?" Henry grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and took a seat at the table, his eyes transfixed on Zelena and Robin as he waited for her to explain what it was that she was trying to say.

"Don't you think it's strange how they are always hanging out together?"

"No, they've always done that." Henry shrugged and chugged down some water.

Zelena huffed at Henry's unhelpfulness and decided to go with a different and more direct tactic. "Well do you think that they might have feelings for each other?"

"Oh yeah I figured that out ages ago. Where have you been Aunt Z?" Henry stifled a laugh, Zelena had been staying with them for quite some time now, how had she only just found this out?

"Why didn't you tell me? And why haven't they done anything about it?" Zelena asked, not knowing whether she was more shocked that Henry already knew or angry that it took her so long to figure it out.

"I don't know stuff got in the way, I guess. I'm sure they'll work it all out soon."

"Well why don't we hurry things along?"

"I don't think my moms would want us interfering."

"We won't be, we'd be helping. They're obviously meant to be together and they just can't see it, I mean they already have a son together for crying out loud."

"I guess they are going about it really slowly and I really want them to be together before I graduate high school. Why do you care so much anyway?" Henry couldn't help but be persuaded by Zelena, he too was getting frustrated that it was taking so long for his parents to figure out that they belong together.

"Because she's my sister and I want to help her find her happiness. I also feel like I owe her a lot for letting me stay here especially after I tricked her last boyfriend into having a baby with me and I suppose I did a few other not very nice things to her too."

"Okay, I'll help you but we need to make this official." Henry thought for a second before grinning proudly. "I got it. Operation Lobster."

"I have absolutely no idea what that means but I like it." Zelena nodded and high fived Henry, Operation Lobster was a go.

* * *

"Henry" Regina called as she swept into the room in a hastier manner than she usually would. "Can you sign this birthday card for Snow?" She passed a pen to her son and placed the card down in front of him not bothering to wait for an answer. Zelena having heard the mention of Snow's birthday took that as her cue to exit and took Robin into the other room.

"What are we going to get her for a present?" Henry squiggled a message into the card and signed his name in his neatest handwriting. "I was thinking I could get her a knitting kit and a walking stick cos she's getting older and she's already my grandma." Henry looked up at his mom with a cheeky grin and handed her back the card.

"I'm not sure if Snow would find that very amusing. How about we save that one until next year?" Regina chuckled before placing the card on the table. "What jewelry do you think she'd like?"

Zelena placed Robin gently into her crib before returning to the dining room where Regina and Henry were still discussing a birthday present for Snow. She yawned dramatically but was ignored entirely, much to her annoyance. She was just about to leave once again when an idea suddenly formed in her head, maybe Snow's birthday could help with Operation Lobster.

"Why don't we have a girl's night out for her birthday?" Zelena asked, speaking over both Henry and Regina who were still talking about gifts.

Zelena winked at Henry hoping that he would suss out that it was a plan to get his mothers a little closer; Henry being the smart kid that he was got it straight away and nodded his head eagerly. "I think that's a great idea actually. I was planning to go spend the evening with Grandpa on Friday anyway and I'm sure he wouldn't mind having Robin to keep Neal company either."

"I don't know maybe we should just invite Snow to ours and have a quiet night in." Regina suggested, the thought of Zelena and Snow together with the mix of alcohol didn't fill her with much confidence. Sure her sister had come a long way in terms of getting on with everyone but it didn't take much for her to express her true feelings especially about Snow or anyone else in the Nolan family for that matter.

"Oh come on, sis. I've been dying for a night out with the girls ever since I've stopped wanting to kill you all. Besides you _need_ one and you said Swan was miserable lately so she'll also need cheering up and nothing cheers you up better than wine. We can even invite the wolf girl. I probably owe her a drink since I put her true love under that sleeping spell that one time, oops."

Regina paused for a second and stared at her sister's enthusiastic smile; if Emma and Ruby were also there then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. "I suppose it would be nice to get everyone together for Snow's birthday but you have to promise to be on your best behavior."

Zelena gasped, "I'm always on my best behavior, how rude."

"I'm serious Zelena, one snide comment and we'll never do anything like this again." Regina threatened, she could see that her sister was trying to make an effort but she really didn't want her spoiling Snows birthday.

"You make sarcastic comments all the time."

"Yes but I do it out of love… most of the time."

"So it's a date?" Zelena asked hopefully, a smile already plastered on her face as she looked over at Henry.

"I'll call Emma and see what she thinks first but yes, it's a date."

"Yes!" Henry cheered joyously before noticing the confused look on his moms face. "I mean, I'm happy that me and Grandpa will be able to have a guy's night."

* * *

"Dammit!" Emma yelled as she poked herself in the eye with the mascara wand for the second time that evening. This was exactly why she never usually bothered with makeup. She wiped away the black smudge with the back of her hand and blinked a couple of times until her vision was back to normal, maybe that was a sign that no more makeup was needed. She looked at herself in the mirror, after much self-debate about what to wear she had settled with a pair of black skinny jeans and a low cut burgundy blouse paired with the only heels that she owned.

Emma made her way downstairs and sent Regina a quick text reminding her to let her know when it was that she was leaving. The doorbell rang almost as soon as Emma had sent the text, Emma smiled to herself, she was determined that tonight was going to be the best night.

"Emma!" Ruby roared as soon as the blonde opened the door. She wrapped her arms around her before strolling into the house followed closely by Snow who was now greeting her daughter with a warm hug.

"Hey guys." Emma grinned, the excitement of the other two women seemed to be infectious and she suddenly felt even more excited about this girl's night out. "Happy birthday, again." She linked her arm into Snow's and followed Ruby over to the dock where the brunette had already plugged in her own iPod and was selecting the most upbeat song she could find.

"You can do the honors, Em." Ruby said as she handed Emma the large bottle of vodka that she had been carrying under her arm.

"Make sure they're not too strong." Snow warned, giving Emma a look that only a mother could.

"What? It's your birthday. Yours has to be the strongest, it's the rules." Ruby all but whined and winked over at Emma hoping that she would agree with her.

Emma poured three very generous glasses of vodka and soda and handed them out. She took a sip of her drink and grimaced before shrugging and taking another gulp. She had never been any good at balancing the amount of alcohol to the amount of soda but maybe a strong drink with friends was just what she needed.

"So where's Regina?" Ruby asked as soon as there was a lull in conversation, the question obviously aimed towards Emma. Ruby had been dying to mention Regina to Emma ever since she had seen them looking closer than ever the other day at the diner.

"She's meeting us at the bar with Zelena." Emma replied as casually as she could, ignoring the rapidly increasing heart beat in her chest that seemed to occur at even just the mention of Regina's name.

"You two seem to be joined at the hip recently. Not that that's a bad thing, I can think of a lot worse people to be joined to."

"Well I'm just glad that you two have settled your differences." Snow interjected, her whole family had had a rocky relationship with Regina but now things were definitely a lot smoother. In fact Snow would even call them friends, Regina had more than proven her loyalty to them and she was certain that the other woman had changed for good. "Oh, I should take this." Snow said as she looked at her glowing phone. "It's probably David calling me to say good night to Neal." Snow smiled as she quickly left the room answering the phone as she left.

Ruby waited until Snow was completely out of earshot before she took a seat on the couch and gestured for Emma to do the same. Now was the perfect time to talk to her about Regina properly, she had been watching the two of them closely over the last couple of months and slowly she could see how different they had become with each other. It started off as casual lunch dates, Regina would order her meal, Emma would order hers and they would speak about boring things like the weather but over time these lunch dates got more frequent and their conversations got deeper. It was now at the stage where Ruby all but reserved their table every day, there was no longer any distance between them and they were acting almost coupley. Ruby was pretty certain that they had passed the friendship stage a long time ago and all she needed was a confirmation from Emma. "Okay, so what's really going on with you and Regina?"

"What do you mean?" Emma shifted, a little uncomfortable at this topic of conversation and the uncharacteristically serious tone of Ruby's voice.

"Come on, I've seen you two together. There's definitely something that you're not telling me."

"We're just friends; she's been there for me a lot recently."

Ruby frowned, how could they _not_ be together? "I certainly don't look at my friends the way that you look at Regina, I'm just saying."

"Ruby, what the hell?" Emma stood up impulsively and grabbed the bottle of vodka from the table. She topped her drink up with the liquid and began pacing, her thoughts spiralling around in her head. Maybe she should just come clean, maybe she hadn't been acting as cooly as she thought she had been.

"I'm sorry. I just figured you two were dating and not telling anyone." Ruby bit her bottom lip nervously, hoping that she wasn't pushing her friend too far into this conversation. She was genuinely baffled however to find out that their relationship was strictly platonic. "You do like her, like her though, don't you?"

"Fine, okay. " Emma made her way back over to where Ruby was sitting and slumped down beside her, maybe it would feel better to get her feelings out in the open besides if anyone would get it, it would be Ruby. "So yeah, I kinda think about her all the time and she's the first person I want to see in the morning but that's all. It's all just me. Nothing's happened between us. We're just best friends." Emma sighed, the last two words of her sentence leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.

"Emma, sweetie. It sounds like you have more than best friend feelings for her."

"I don't know, it's complicated." Emma looked down at her drink and took a cautious sip at the now almost straight vodka in her glass.

"Well, have you ever thought about her naked?" Ruby asked with a glint in her eye hoping that the question would shift the mood to a more positive one.

"Ruby?!" Emma gasped almost choking on her drink.

"So that's a yes then." Ruby laughed and winked at the blonde.

"Uh…" Emma put her drink down and buried her head in her hands, her cheeks getting redder by the second.

"Ahh! I knew it. I'm never wrong when it comes to this sort of thing. You should ask her out." Ruby squealed excitedly, clapping her hands together with intense glee.

Emma whipped her head back up and looked at her friend with an amused look of horror. "Woah, no. I mean how do I know if she feels the same way? And I don't even know what my feelings are. They could just be rebound feelings or something. It's so confusing."

"Please you two have been fighting the sexual tension ever since you first arrived here; it's anything but rebound feelings. And you know what, love is confusing; if it wasn't then it wouldn't be love. Take me and Dorothy, I had no idea that I was in love with her and then I kissed her and it all made sense."

"Are you saying that I should kiss Regina?" Emma raised an eyebrow, how did Ruby make it all sound so simple when in reality it was anything but?

"Why not? It worked for me."

"Because this is Regina freaking Mills we're talking about. What if she's not into me like that and everything we have gets ruined? I don't want to go back to the days of her baking me poisonous apple pies again."

"Ohhhh. She's into you, trust me." Ruby smiled and wrapped her arm around the blondes shoulder. If only Emma could see all those hidden looks that Regina gives her when she's not looking.

"Hey you won't tell anyone, right? I kind of wanna figure out what I'm gonna do before everyone finds out my dirty little secret."

"Of course I won't, I'm a great secret keeper. Just promise me you'll be careful, she was the evil queen for most of her life, remember?"

"Hey, she's not like that anymore. She's changed; she's a different person to who she was."

"I'll still have to kick her ass if she hurts you. Seriously though Em, follow your heart. You and Regina both deserve happiness."

"Thanks, Rubes." Emma smiled widely and pulled the brunette into a hug. It did make her feel a lot better to get her feelings out and talking to Ruby gave her a lot more confidence in the fact that maybe her feelings weren't all just one-sided.

"Now enough with the soppy stuff, let's get our drink on!" Ruby triumphed and raised her glass in the air.

"So where is Dorothy tonight?" Emma asked, it was unusual for Ruby to be going out without Dorothy.

"She had to give us a rain check cos she's teaching Toto a new trick or something also the fact that your girlfriend's sister decided to tag along wasn't exactly inviting." Ruby spoke with an amused grin on her face.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Yet…"

"Ruby." Emma glared as seriously as she could but couldn't bring herself to be mad at her friend.

"Okay, okay I'll stop. But just for the record, her heart rate totally increases when she's around you too. Wolf instincts never lie." Ruby smirked and tapped her nose; she knew it would only be a matter of time now until she'd be asking Emma and Regina along for a double date with her and Dorothy.

Emma grinned at what she had just heard and felt her cheeks beginning to get warmer once again. She was just about to make a wolf joke when she heard her phone beep. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw the message that had come through from Regina.

"Speak of the devil." Ruby chimed as she saw Regina's name flash up on the screen of Emma's cell phone from over her shoulder.

Emma elbowed her and quickly replied to the text. "Regina's leaving in five minutes." She smiled and finished her drink quickly, completely forgetting how strong it was which resulted on her choking afterwards.

Ruby laughed loudly at Emma before standing up and dragging the blonde along with her to find Snow who was still on the phone to baby Neal. After another couple of minutes of Emma and Ruby hurrying Snow along they finally made their way out of the house, Snow insisting on driving as she was the only one who hadn't had a drink having given her own one to Ruby. "I have a feeling this is going to be the best night ever!" Ruby half sang, half shouted as they made their way to the bar. All she needed now was a way to make sure that Emma and Regina had a lot of alone time.


	5. Chapter 5

"God, why am I so nervous?" Emma whispered to Ruby as she hopped out of the car.

"Because now you've told someone it means that it's real and there's no going back. Also you know Regina will be inside looking sexy as hell." Ruby smirked as she spoke and waggled her eyebrows at Emma.

Snow locked up the car and joined Emma and Ruby, the three of them walking into the Rabbit Hole together. It wasn't overly busy for a Friday night but it would be sure to pick up as the night went on. Emma spotted Regina right away; she was standing beside her sister at the bar and she was wearing a deep purple dress which of course hugged her curves perfectly.

"Regina! Zelena!" Snow squealed as soon as she saw the two women and greeted them with a hug, Ruby followed with the same greeting shortly afterwards while Emma lagged behind, a little nervous after the conversation she had just had with Ruby.

"Hey." Emma smiled apprehensively as Regina enveloped her in a hug. Ruby was right, it did seem more real now and she was extremely worried that Regina could somehow tell, the last thing she wanted was for there to be some weird vibe between the two of them.

"Okay, the first round is on me. Happy birthday Snow!" Ruby yelled and waved to the bartender who came over to her almost right away.

Once the drinks had been served Ruby made a toast to Snow and insisted that tonight would be the greatest night ever which of course was aimed completely at Emma who had been deep in conversation with her mom for the last five minutes and was doing her utmost best to avoid Regina without making it too obvious.

* * *

After another round of shots Regina had excused herself to go to the bathroom followed by Snow and Zelena who were getting on surprisingly well for now. Ruby called the bartender over and ordered two more drinks, passing one over to Emma when she received them. "You should ask her to dance." Ruby said frankly as she brought the bottle to her lips and took a long sip of her beer.

"I don't think so." Emma replied, the thought had actually been in her head since they had arrived but she didn't have the courage to ask Regina just yet.

"Ask her. Ask her or I'll ask her for you."

"Ruby, you are literally the worst right now." Emma glared at Ruby and took a long swig of her beer.

"I'm just the voice in the back of your head." Ruby smiled, lowering her voice a little as she noticed Regina returning from the bathroom alongside Snow and Zelena.

"What if she says no?" Emma asked matching the volume of her speech to Ruby's, her eyes glued to Regina as soon as the other woman came into sight.

"She won't."

"What if she doesn't want to dance?"

"She does, now go. I'll make sure nobody disturbs you two." Ruby encouraged her friend; she couldn't help but be a little frustrated at Emma's lack of confidence when it came to Regina.

"This is stupid, I never act like this." Emma groaned, mainly to herself rather than to Ruby. She didn't know what it was but every time she thought of Regina she seemed to act as if she were a teenager again.

"It's cute now go get your girl." Ruby gave Emma a gentle shove in Regina's direction before making her own way towards Snow and Zelena. She had no idea how she was going to keep them out of Emma and Regina's way but she had a suspicion that alcohol would certainly help her on that endeavour.

Emma gave Ruby a grateful smile as she saw her friend practically drag both Zelena and Snow back to the bar, neither of whom was putting up much of a fight mind you. "Regina." Emma sputtered as she looked around and found Regina standing right beside her. "Um, what's up?" She asked, inwardly cringing at how pathetic she sounded almost immediately after she had spoken.

Regina watched as the other women walked off but made no attempt to follow them instead choosing to stay with Emma. She raised an eyebrow at Emma noticing right away the weird tone in the blonde's voice. "I forgot how disgusting the bathrooms were here." She paused and couldn't help but look amused at Emma's startled expression. "Is everything okay with you, dear?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm good." Emma nodded a little too enthusiastically and took full advantage at the sudden change of song that the DJ had just started to play. "This song is the best, come dance with me?" The words seemed to pour out of her mouth before her brain had quite caught up with her but for once she was thankful for that. She looked at the brunette and gave her her best puppy dog eyes, her hand reaching out for Regina to take.

Regina smiled at how much of a dork Emma looked like; normally she wouldn't even have considered dancing in a place like this but she had a feeling that seeing Emma happy would definitely make it worth her while. She placed her palm softly into the blondes and nodded begrudgingly. "Fine but never pull that face at me again, it's impossible to say no to."

Emma had to bite her bottom lip to stop an almighty grin from appearing on her face before settling with a small sweet smile in response to Regina's acceptance. "I can't make any promises about that." She responded with a flirty grin, not quite believing that she was in fact flirting with Regina and not getting chastised for doing so. Emma led the way to the small, dimly lit dancefloor in the corner of the bar, there were a few other couples dancing together all of which were so involved with each other that they never even noticed the two of them taking to the floor. Emma found a spot in the middle and pulled Regina towards her praying that the other woman wasn't having second thoughts about this.

Was Emma Swan flirting with her? Regina toyed with the idea in her head as she followed Emma's lead, her thoughts only receding when she felt herself being pulled towards the blonde. Regina dropped her hand from Emma's and watched as Emma started to sway along to the beat of the music. Regina copied her motions feeling slightly uncomfortable, she was hardly accustomed to this style of dancing. Back in the Enchanted Forest she was used to the sophisticated dances that would happen at balls which were far different to the music and the dancing in Storybrooke. In fact, this was the first time anybody had asked her to dance in a bar and it was certainly very unfamiliar to her.

Emma could sense the uneasiness coming off of Regina and she couldn't hide the disappointment that she felt, maybe asking Regina to dance wasn't such a good idea. "We can go find the others if you want?" She spoke loudly over the music leaning forward to make sure Regina could hear her.

"No, it's not that." Regina stopped swaying and leaned her head close to Emma's ear, her hand resting softly on her shoulder. "I just don't think that my style of dance would go down very well here." Regina watched as she saw Emma's facial expression change from one of disappointment to understanding. "I'm always up for a new challenge though. You can teach me, Miss Swan." Regina spoke slowly emphasizing the formal use of Emma's name. If Emma was going to flirt with her then she was going to do exactly the same thing back to her.

"Um, okay." Emma mumbled, trying her absolute best not to freak out at the way Regina was talking or the way that Regina's hand was rubbing her shoulder or the fact that Regina had just asked her to teach her how to dance. She took a deep breath, _just act cool_. Emma looked back at Regina, who once again looked completely amused; never did she think that Regina would need dance lessons from her. Regina was graceful and elegant and she was pretty sure that she could dance to anything and still look fantastic whereas she was well; she was a bit of a clutz. "Okay, it's pretty easy actually. You just um, you just kinda move." Emma blushed, hoping that the low lighting would hide the color of her cheeks. This was hopeless; there was no way she could teach Regina how to dance.

Regina smiled adoringly at the flustered blonde and started to swing her hips slowly. "So there are no set moves?" She asked, if she was being honest with herself then she didn't really need Emma to explain anymore but she liked teasing Emma, as evil as that sounded. "How am I doing?" The brunette questioned running her hand seductively up and down Emma's arm. After all there was nothing wrong with a little bit of harmless flirting was there?

Emma's breath hitched, was Regina purposely trying to kill her? "You're doing great." Emma stammered, completely forgetting that she was meant to be showing Regina how to dance, it was more like the other way around now. Emma leant into Regina's touch and managed to catch a small smirk on Regina's face just as she did so; it was now clear to her that Regina Mills was indeed flirting with her too. Emma smiled to herself; maybe Ruby was right after all. She watched Regina dance for a second, finding it hard not to be completely hypnotised by how perfectly Regina moved. After a few seconds and a lot of will power Emma managed to match her movements to Regina's, the two of them dancing in sync with each other for the first time that night.

"Oh look, there's Emma and Regina. I was wondering where they had got to." Snow pointed at them from across the room and started to make her way towards them before she felt a tug at her wrist.

"No, let's just hang here for a bit. Tell me about David's birthday surprise for you." Ruby said after she had successfully managed to keep Snow from interrupting Emma and Regina. So far it had been relatively easy to keep Snow and Zelena in her sights but she wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to.

"Please don't." Zelena rolled her eyes and took another shot as soon as she realised that Snow had already started talking.

Regina had no idea where this behaviour was coming from. Emma was her friend, her best friend and yet here she was outwardly flirting with her, dancing seductively with her and thinking not entirely platonic thoughts about her. She should probably excuse herself and leave but that was possibly the last thing that she actually wanted to do. She could feel Emma watching her and she returned a small smile back to the wide grin that Emma had just given her. Emma definitely seemed to be enjoying herself also; in fact it was the happiest that she had seen Emma for a while. Maybe she wasn't the only one who was enjoying whatever _this_ was a little more than she should have been, Emma was the one who instigated the dancing and the flirting after all. Regina smiled a little wider; she was definitely not going to be leaving any time soon.

Emma could feel her hands beginning to sweat and heart beat increasing at even the slightest touch that was exchanged between herself and Regina. She hesitantly placed her hands on Regina's waist and thanked every God in the world when Regina returned the gesture and inched herself that little bit closer to her. This was now the closest she had ever been to the brunette and she couldn't help but stare at just how beautiful the other woman truly was. The rich brown of her eyes, the full plumpness of her lips and the gentle flick to her hair, all of which drove Emma crazy. She could feel the eyes of her friends watching every move that the two of them made but she didn't care, as far as she was concerned it was just her and Regina in this moment and that was all that mattered.

"Emma and Regina seem very sensual, don't they?" Snow pondered aloud as she looked between both Ruby and Zelena wondering if they were thinking the same thing.

"Oh, that? That's nothing, all the cool kids dance like that nowadays." Ruby panicked; sometimes she forgot that Emma was Snow's daughter.

"This drink is actually not as disgusting as it looks. Drink up, Snow." Zelena added, quickly sensing where this conversation was about to head and not wanting all of her hard work to be ruined by Snow having a hissy fit about her daughter and Regina.

Regina barely had any idea what was happening farther than the striking blonde who was standing just mere inches away from her. She had lost interest entirely of what music was playing or what she looked like dancing; in fact the only thing she was focused on this second was how the lights shined perfectly on Emma's golden hair. Regina cleared her throat, trying to speak but not being able to muster any words, she wasn't sure how long she had been gaping at Emma for but she knew it was certainly longer than what could be considered appropriate. Emma's eyes seemed to focus on to Regina's at the sudden interruption of their mutual staring. Still, Regina said nothing again taken aback by how stunning Emma looked under the normally harsh lighting. She had never really looked at Emma before in this way but now that she had she knew that it would be near impossible to see her as 'just a friend' ever again.

"They're staring at each other an awful lot." Snow remarked, her eyes had been glued on the two women for the past few minutes and she had been ignoring whatever conversation was happening around her.

"I stare a lot when I dance too; it helps with your balance." Ruby frowned, saying the first thing that came into her head probably wasn't the best thing to do but she wasn't always the best at thinking on her feet especially after a countless number of drinks.

"What? That's ridiculous. If you're going to lie at least make it half believable." Zelena sniped back at Ruby, just quiet enough so Snow couldn't hear her.

"Well Juliet and Juliet are hardly being subtle are they?" Ruby countered back, she had a suspicion that Zelena also knew what was going on, there was no way that the red head would willingly hang out with herself and Snow all night otherwise.

"You know?" Zelena gasped, it seemed that she really was one of the last to find out about these two.

"And so do you? Did Emma tell you too?"

"Of course not. I live with Regina, she's my sister. Of course I know who she's into."

"What are you two whispering about?" Snow asked as she turned around, her eyes leaving Regina and Emma if only for a split second.

"Nothing." Zelena and Ruby replied in unison and turned back to continue to watch what was going to happen next between Emma and Regina.

Emma could feel herself blushing for what felt like the hundredth time that night, how could she not when the object of her desire was giving her this much attention? She wanted so badly to tell Regina all of her feelings, to tell her that she wanted to be with her and that if it wasn't for Regina then she would never have gotten back to the strong person that she is once again. But she knew this wasn't the right time, declaring her undying love to Regina in a noisy crowded bar didn't scream romantic. Emma took a deep breath if only to calm her nerves, she couldn't get ahead of herself. Right now she was holding Regina and she was going to savour this moment for as long as she possibly could.

Snow continued to study her daughter and her former enemy; she hadn't seen her daughter look this happy and relaxed since… Hook. Snow gasped, the realisation finally hitting her. "Emma and Regina?" She asked out loud and received only blank stares from both Ruby and Zelena. "Emma and Regina." She said once again, this time the tone of her voice was less inquisitive and more understanding. She kept her eyes glued on to the two women; strangely enough this didn't come as an entire shock to her however she did need to make sure that she had some stern words with each of them about what their true intentions were with each other. For now though she was going to continue to observe and hope that the two of them could work things out together.

Maybe it was the drink, maybe it was the physical contact or maybe it was just how damn good Emma Swan looked right now but whatever it was she wasn't going to fight it. Being here with Emma felt nice like it was the most natural thing in the world. Regina brought her hand up softly to Emma's face and swept a piece of stray hair behind her ear, her hand hesitating before she let it rest back on to Emma's waist.

Regina's touch caused Emma's neck to erupt into goosebumps and her heart to pound uncontrollably. With a sudden wave of courage she leant in even closer to the brunette and rested her forehead against hers. She closed her eyes as soon as their skin touched and let herself escape into her own little universe, one with just her and Regina. She could feel Regina's breath hit against her skin gently and she knew that Regina must have been feeling the same as she was in this moment because the grip on her waist was getting increasingly tighter. She took a deep breath and inhaled the aroma of apples which was uniquely Regina, she felt weirdly light headed as if the other woman was an opium to her. She could stand it no longer. She bridged the only gap that was standing between them and pressed her lips lightly against the brunettes. This was it; she was finally kissing Regina Mills.

Kissing Emma was unlike kissing anyone else that she had ever kissed before. It should've felt strange or awkward given the circumstances but it didn't. It felt familiar yet exciting, like it was something that was always meant to happen and was only now taking place. Emma's lips seemed to fit with hers perfectly which was something that took her by surprise, in fact everything about Emma seemed to fit her perfectly and she didn't quite understand how this hadn't happened between them sooner. She held onto Emma tighter, fighting every single urge that she had not to deepen the kiss. She still had so many questions for herself and for Emma and she was suddenly fighting a battle in her head whether to follow her heart and carry on in this moment or to go with her head and actually figure out what all of this was. The rational part of Regina won as it so often did and she tenderly separated her lips from the blondes, regretting the decision almost at the exact same time as she had made it.

The sudden invasion of space between their lips attacked Emma in a way much harsher than she could have imagined and it was as if she had stepped back into reality. What had she done? "Regina, I'm so sorry." She could feel her eyes filling up with tears as she took in the look of confusion on the brunettes face. How had she let her lack of self-control get this out of hand? Had she really ruined everything that she had with Regina? She saw Regina's mouth begin to open but she couldn't bear to hear what she was going to say, the fear of rejection triumphing over everything else. She ripped herself from out of Regina's grasp, turned on her heel and ran. She had come so far over the years but now she didn't know what to do other than to revert to her past ways of running away whenever things got tough. She could hear Regina calling her name as she pushed her way through the small crowd of people by the door. She wasn't entirely sure but she thought she saw Ruby starting to chase after her before being stopped by Snow. She wanted to look back, she wanted to look at Regina once more but she couldn't. She needed to get out of there and she needed to get out of there now.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N – So it's late and I've had wine and wrote this in one sitting so if this makes no sense then I'm so sorry! I just wanted to get in another chapter because I'm really busy next week and didn't wanna leave you guys hanging too long! Thank you so much for the feedback and I hope you like this chapter! xo

* * *

Henry rang the doorbell for a second time, he had a feeling his mom would take a long time to answer. He had returned home earlier that morning with a million questions about what had happened the night before between his two moms. It didn't take long for Zelena to fill him in on all of the night's details and the current situation between the two which was Regina spending the majority of her time in her vault and Emma holed up in her house ignoring everybody's calls. Henry being the optimist that he was suggested that he and Zelena help out by bringing his moms back together again. Henry tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Emma to answer her door; his plan would work a whole lot better if she would cooperate. After another minute or so of no reply Henry made his way around the back and tapped on the window. "Mom?" He called out and waited a couple of seconds before he saw Emma make her way to the back door and let him in.

"Oh, hey kid. If I knew it were you I would've come downstairs quicker, sorry." Emma looked at her son sheepishly and followed him through to the kitchen. She had spent the night tossing and turning and replaying the night's events over and over in her head. Part of her wanted to leave town there and then but she had been drinking and the last thing she wanted was to end up in the hospital. She was glad that Henry was here now, somehow he managed to calm her and allowed her to forget her problems if only for a short while.

"Did you forget that you said that we'd go Pokémon hunting today?" Henry asked as he grabbed a bottle of water and some snacks and placed them in his backpack. He knew that if he opened with what had happened last night then Emma would never agree to go out with him so he decided to act as if nothing had happened instead.

"Damn, I completely forgot about that." Emma handed Henry a packet of Oreos to put in his bag before grabbing her jacket from the chair which she had chucked it on last night. "So where's the best place to go to catch these Pokémon then?" Emma asked as she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket ignoring the number of missed calls that appeared on her screen, the majority of them being from Regina.

"The harbour, for sure." Henry said enthusiastically, the docks were usually quiet at this time and catching Pokémon would be the perfect excuse for him to take Emma up there.

"Cool. You ready then, kid?" Emma asked, her spirits already lifted just by spending mere minutes with her son. She made her way to the door and followed behind Henry, her mind wandering to Regina every time she allowed it to. She had to fight every urge she had not to mention her name.

"Hey, mom?" Henry asked as he stopped abruptly beside Emma's yellow bug. "Why are there so many bags in your car?" He turned to Emma with a frown on his face already expecting the worst but hoping that she would prove him wrong.

"Um. Crap." Emma said under her breath, she had completely forgotten that she had packed nearly all of her belongings into her car. She looked at her son who was getting angrier by the second; she had to tell him the truth besides he was old enough now to figure it all out anyway. "I was thinking of leaving town for a while."

Henry sighed and leaned on the side of Emma's bug. "Mom, I thought you were done with running." He looked at her disappointingly, he didn't know the exact details of what happened last night but according to what Zelena had told him it was Emma who once again did the running.

Emma felt a pang of guilt hit her, sure Henry had grown up a lot over the years but he still needed her here, it would've been selfish for her to leave and he did have a point, she had said that she was done with running away from her problems. "I'm not going anywhere kid, I promise." She walked over to him and wrapped her arm around his shoulder, surprised yet again at just how tall her son had gotten. "It was just a moment of weakness I guess, you're stuck with me."

Henry wrapped his arm around Emma's waist as they began to walk, the same way that they used to when he was much younger. "I'll hold you to that. And even if you did go somewhere you know me and mom would find you right away." He looked at her with a smile, the first time that he had mentioned Regina to Emma.

Emma fell silent at the reference to Regina and carried on walking at a slightly faster pace than she had before, her mind again wandering to last night. Why did she have to kiss her for? "So I was thinking we should get milkshakes at Granny's later, what do you think?" Emma asked, changing the subject completely.

"Sure, I'll ask mom if she wants to join too." Henry answered, he knew exactly what Emma was doing and he wasn't going to let her avoid the topic in fact he was going to do the complete opposite, Emma would thank him in the long run. "How was your night out?"

Emma turned her head to face her son. Did he know what had happened? Surely Regina wouldn't have told him or maybe he was just generally wondering how the night was. "It was good." She responded vaguely and was met with a face of disbelief, one that she had seen Regina make a thousand times before. "Okay, it was weird."

"Mom, I know what happened. You don't have to be embarrassed."

"I'm not embarrassed, I'm just mad. Mad at myself for doing what I did." Emma stopped in her tracks and couldn't help but think how weird this whole situation was, she was discussing her love life with her sons other mother with her son yet it felt completely normal. "How freaked out is your mom on a scale of one to ten?"

"I don't know, she's been in her vault the whole time. Aunt Zelena said she spent the whole night there. I don't think mom was freaked out I just think she was surprised that's all." Henry looked at Emma sympathetically, he had no idea how his moms had got into such a mess, it was obvious that they both had feelings for each other yet nothing ever played out smoothly for them. "Maybe you should talk to her."

"Maybe, kid." Emma mustered a small smile, Henry's words giving her a little more confidence than before; maybe Regina didn't think she was _completely_ crazy. "Hey, look there's a Squirtle. I bet I can catch it before you!" Emma pointed to the screen on her phone and tapped hurriedly on the screen, Henry was undoubtedly a lot better than her at catching Pokémon but she was getting much better with the more practice that she was receiving.

"No way, I'm gonna catch it with one ball, you watch." Henry laughed and started swiping at his cell phone, he wasn't going to push his mom to talk anymore, he was just going to help cheer her up. She had cheered him up many times before in the past and now it was his turn to return the favour. Henry checked the time on his phone quickly, just another half an hour until part two of Operation Lobster came into action, now all he had to do was wait and hope that Zelena sticks to her end of the plan.

* * *

After what seemed like forever Zelena had finally managed to persuade her sister to leave her vault and join herself and baby Robin for a walk along the docks. Regina had been quiet the entire time apart from the occasional nod of the head in reply to a question or the odd eye roll in response to something that the red head had said. Zelena couldn't help but analyse her sister as they walked, the brunette had been staring into the distance for a while now, her mind obviously on something over than the current conversation that Zelena was having with seemingly herself. She checked her watch discreetly, they still had fifteen minutes before they were supposed to casually 'bump into' Emma and Henry and Zelena knew exactly how to pass the time: gossip. "So, let's talk about that kiss."

Regina halted and turned her head so rapidly to face her sister that she almost lost her balance entirely. "Let's not." She glared back, she had made it obvious that she wasn't in the mood for socialising and she had only agreed to come on this walk so Zelena would stop whining about it. She realised now that that had been a mistake.

"What did you say to make Swan run?" Zelena asked, not showing any signs that she intended to drop the conversation at all.

"I told you I'm not talking to you about this." Regina said defiantly and went back to staring at the ocean.

"Why not? It's not like I'm going to tell her. Besides it's what sisters do isn't it?" Zelena asked, slightly upset that her sister refused to talk about this with her especially when she was so invested in her and Emma's relationship, not that she knew that though of course.

Regina kept her eyes on the soft notion of the water in front of her, watching as the waves crashed against each other. "I didn't say anything to make Emma run. I think I gave her the wrong signs."

"You liked kissing her though, right?"

Regina blushed at that question, she had missed out on the sister talk about love interests when she was growing up but she had just found out that they are just as embarrassing now as they would've been back then. "Well, yes."

"And you want to kiss her again?

"Not in the same proximity as you, Emma's mother and Ruby Lucas but yes, I would like to kiss her again."

Zelena grinned childishly at Regina's confession and started pushing Robin's stroller once more, prompting Regina to walk alongside her. "I'm sure she feels the same way. "

"She's ignoring all of my calls and messages. I've never been ignored before." Regina pouted slightly, she had never been in such a vulnerable position before and she didn't like it one bit.

"Oh, it's such a hard life being you, isn't it?" Zelena smirked sarcastically which resulted in Regina shooting her daggers. "Let's go and feed the ducks, shall we Robin?" Zelena asked leaning forward to her daughter and noticing how close it was before they were due to meet up with Henry and Emma.

Regina checked her phone again knowing that she would have heard nothing from Emma but she was in the routine of checking it every ten minutes nonetheless. As much as she hated to admit it, hanging out with her sister had been a welcoming distraction however all she wanted to do now was fix things with Emma, if only she would answer her phone.

Zelena looked over her shoulder at her sister who was staring aimlessly at her cell phone and who was completely oblivious to the two people who were just coming into view. Emma and Henry were sitting on the bench just like Henry had planned, Zelena smiled, she certainly deserved a sister of the year award for this. "Looks like you and Emma won't have to wait too long for that talk."

Regina looked up curiously and saw Emma and Henry who were now only a few metres away. Regina panicked for a second, she hadn't planned what she was going to say to Emma, in fact she had no idea how she was going to open this conversation.

Zelena instantly picked up on Regina's unusual behaviour; Emma really did make her sister behave strangely. "Henry, Emma. What a nice surprise!" She gushed as she walked over to the two of them with Regina just behind her.

"Hey Aunt Zelena, Hey Mom." Henry smiled excitedly, their plan having worked perfectly. He looked over at Emma nervously, afraid that she might run again but felt a lot more relieved when Emma made no movement whatsoever when she saw Regina and instead was staring awkwardly into the palm of her hands. "Moms do you mind if I go and feed the ducks with Aunt Zelena and Robin? Henry asked almost immediately, he wasn't taking any chances.

"Sure." Emma shrugged, still not making any attempt to look up and face Regina.

"How did you know that was where they were going, Henry?" Regina asked, catching on to Henry and Zelena's plan but being more touched than angry. "Don't be back too late." She nodded gratefully at both her son and her sister before taking Henry's seat on the bench besides Emma.

"Bye, moms." Henry called back happily before walking off alongside Zelena, he had every hope that his moms could sort this out before dinner time.

* * *

There was a somewhat awkward silence between the two women for a moment before Emma finally looked up and turned to face Regina. "I'm sorry about last night." Emma spoke meekly, failing to make any kind of eye contact with Regina and settling for a safer spot behind Regina's head to rest her gaze on.

Regina could see that Emma wasn't looking at her and it made her progressively angrier, not only had Emma been ignoring her all day but now that they finally had the chance to talk she couldn't even look her in the eye. "You ran out of there so fast I was expecting to find a glass slipper." Regina said bluntly and gritted her teeth before she said anything that she really didn't want to.

"If you're going to get mad at me then don't bother." Emma inched her gaze cautiously onto Regina and noticed the look in Regina's eye, a look which she hadn't seen aimed at her for quite some time. "You know what I'm not sorry. I'm not sorry that I kissed you. I mean sure it could've happened a lot better and in a much quieter place and you wouldn't have pulled away and I wouldn't have ran but dammit, I'm not sorry that the kiss happened!" Emma almost shouted, her emotions getting the better of her again and she had to turn away because she knew that she was likely to break down if Regina rejected her once again.

"Emma." Regina spoke softly and found Emma's hand with her own, holding it firmly. "I'm not sorry that it happened either. I just wish that I had handled things differently."

Emma looked around and joined her eyes with Regina's, she could see the openness in them and she could tell that Regina was being completely honest. "What would you have done differently?" She asked in a much quieter voice than she had previously used.

"Not pulled away." Regina smiled sadly, she had cursed herself repeatedly since she made the stupid move to pull away, worrying about the what if's and whys instead of what was happening in the moment.

Emma couldn't quite believe what Regina had just told her and remained silent for a good few seconds just to take it all in. "I only ran because I thought you didn't want to. I would have never left you if I knew, Regina."

"I wanted to, dear. I just, I had so many questions but I realised afterwards that none of the answers mattered." Sitting beside Emma now, Regina found it hard to even remember all of the questions she had in her head at that time.

"That's good to know." Emma tried her best not to beam but she couldn't help it, Regina had more than made her day with that sentence alone.

"I do have one question though. What does this mean for us?"

"It means that I can kiss you again."

"Emma." Regina chuckled, pleased that _her_ Emma had returned.

"I don't know. I suppose we could go on a date, if that's something you'd want to do? Or you know we could just Netflix and chill?" Emma smiled playfully, knowing that Regina would have no idea what Netflix and chill meant which she found to be totally adorable. She just hoped that it would be something she'd let slide and not ask Henry about.

Regina furrowed her brow; sometimes it was as if Emma spoke another language. "Netflix and what?" She shook her head dismissively before agreeing on the first option. "A date would be nice."

"Awesome. I'll think of something fun for us to do." Emma was already wracking her brain, trying to think of the perfect place to take Regina. She had never been on a date with an actual Queen before and she had no idea where to take Regina but she knew it was going to be special; she'd make sure of it.

"Anything that doesn't involve riding in that car of yours." Regina teased, Emma's car probably wasn't as bad as she made it out to be but of course she would never admit that to her.

Emma gasped dramatically; if there was one thing in her life that she was strangely protective over it was her car. "Shut up, I know you love the bug really."

"Did you just tell me to shut up?"

"No… Your Majesty."

"You're an idiot." Regina chuckled once again, had Emma always made her laugh this much? "I'm glad that we fixed things." She added more seriously, the last few hours seemed like a distant memory to her now and she hoped that she and Emma would never have to go through something like that again.

"Me too. Hey, Gina you don't fancy helping me unpack my car, do you?" Emma asked, suddenly remembering that she had packed almost a months' worth of belongings into the back of her car.

"So you're definitely not leaving us to go on another road trip then?

"Nope. Everything I want is right here in Storybrooke."

Regina smiled happily; knowing that Emma was staying in Storybrooke put her mind at ease. "Good." She whispered and pulled Emma closer to her. This time their kiss would be perfect. Regina cupped Emma's cheek softly and placed her lips gently against the other woman's. She smiled as she felt the soft pressure coming from Emma and deepened their kiss a little more. They stayed that way for a few minutes, kissing each other carelessly with nobody pulling away and nobody running away.


End file.
